Heart Stopping
by k2912p
Summary: An answer to a challenge to begin a story with "This/that is/was your/his/her idea of a Valentine's Day gift?" Lee helps Amanda deal with her past.


Disclaimer: Scarecrow and Mrs. King is the property of Warner Bros. and Shoot the Moon Prod. This story is for entertainment purposes only, no infringement is intended.

Timeframe: set in Season three, after 'The Triumvirate'

An answer to a challenge to begin a story with, "This/That is/was your/his/her idea of a Valentine's Day gift?"

A special thank you to Lanie for her quick beta work! Your encouragement is so very much appreciated!

" _That_ was your idea of a good Valentine's Day present?" Amanda was shaking with laughter as she sat on the floor of the elevator. Lee did his best to look annoyed at her reaction, but soon found himself laughing along with her.

"Oh, come on! It wasn't that bad!"

"Getting two black eyes and a bloody nose was your idea of a Valentine's Day gift?!" Amanda was once again helpless with laughter.

"Give me a break, I was seven years old! What was I supposed to do? Those boys took Alice's books and spilled chocolate milk on her dress! I had to protect her!"

"What made you think you could take on three boys by yourself?"

"I was seven, so I thought I was invincible. That was pretty stupid, I'll admit. It was a lot worse when The Colonel found out."

"Didn't he go easy on you once he found out you were defending her?"

Lee scoffed. "The Colonel? He doesn't do easy. He made me peel potatoes every day for a month for fighting!"

"Lee, that's awful!" Amanda reached out and touched his arm, sad for the little boy who had lost so much.

Lee gave her a small smile. "It wasn't so bad. I got a kiss out of it." He pointed to his cheek for reference.

Amanda smiled and held his gaze for a moment before standing up from their spot on the floor of the elevator, where they had been for over half an hour.

"Do you think anyone knows we're in here?" She tried to keep the fear out of her voice, but it trembled just a little, enough for Lee to know she was scared.

Lee wanted to reassure her, but really didn't know how dire their situation was. They had been meeting with a contact, looking for information on a possible weapons deal. Now, not only had their contact bailed, but the elevator taking them back from the fifth floor had stopped halfway down. The emergency phone in the elevator was also not working, which led to their current predicament. He wasn't even sure if this was simply an equipment malfunction or if they had been set up. The only thing Lee could do at the moment was to try to keep Amanda from panicking.

"Hey, it's your turn. What was your worst Valentine's Day?"

She turned to look at Lee, and he saw a brief flash of pain in her eyes before she steeled her expression and turned away. She started pressing buttons on the elevator and pretended to investigate the control panel, but Lee knew she was avoiding looking at him.

"Oh, that was Valentine's Day, 1982. I was dating Dean, you remember Dean. Well, he was taking me out to dinner, but Philip put sugar in his gas tank. Dean was furious, and I had to ground Philip. After that, I just wasn't in the mood to go out and the night was a wash." She laughed half-heartedly at the memory.

Lee watched her, knowing without a doubt she was hiding something. He had seen the flash of pain on her face before she turned away from him.

He chuckled lightly. "That wasn't it, though, was it? Your worst Valentine's Day?" His soft voice reached her, and she closed her eyes tightly for a moment against the memory threatening to break free.

"Yeah, of course that was it." She desperately tried to keep her voice even. She didn't want to tell him this. She _couldn't_ tell him this.

Despite her efforts, Lee heard the strain in her voice. "Amanda, I know you're lying. Spill it!" He tried to keep his tone light, hoping to get her to open up to him.

"Lee, no, mm-mm." She cast her eyes downward and gave a small shake of her head.

"Amanda, what is it?" He pleaded softly with her, feeling that this was something she needed to talk about.

Amanda began to pace the small space of the elevator, feeling Lee's eyes on her every move.

"Why do you want to know?" she continued to pace and refused to meet his eyes.

He knew she was struggling, and in that moment all he wanted to do was to take away her pain. He stood and stepped behind her, gently placing his hands on her upper arms. Quietly he spoke to her. "Amanda…talk to me."

She closed her eyes and stilled her movements before giving him a brief nod of acquiescence. She crossed her arms and hugged herself before beginning. "It was Valentine's Day 1980. Joe was supposed to come home that day. I was running around getting everything ready for his homecoming; I was making his favorite dinner, making sure the house was perfect, the boys were ready to go to my mother's house, you know. Then the phone rang." She shook her head slightly at the memory. "Not only was he not coming home that day, he had agreed to stay for another _six months_. He had been gone for six months at this point already. I asked him how he could go for a year without seeing his family, or if he even thought about discussing it with me first, and he said of course it would be hard not seeing his family, but no, he didn't think of discussing it with me because," she put up air quotes, "this was _important._ " She looked down and slowly shook her head. "I told him that his _family_ was important, and if he couldn't see that, then there was no point in continuing this charade. He asked me what I meant by that, and I told him that we needed to end this, it was time we started thinking about divorce. He didn't say anything, so I told him to be safe and we'd talk soon, and I hung up." In a much quieter voice she added, "I broke up my family that day."

Lee had been running his hands up and down her arms as she told her story, but now turned her to face him. She kept her head down, not wanting him to see the tears she was trying to hold back. He kept his right hand on her arm, and with his left he raised her chin, so she was looking at him. "Amanda, _you_ didn't end your marriage."

She cast her eyes down again. "How do you know?" She asked quietly.

He bent his knees and dipped his head, so he could look into her eyes. "Because I know _you_ , Amanda King. I know who you are, and I know you would have done everything in your power to save your marriage. If you got to the point where you felt it was over, that was not a decision you made lightly."

She shook her head. "If I had been a better wife, if I had done more…"

Lee cut her off, grabbing her upper arms again, more forcefully this time. "Amanda, no! Oh God, you don't really believe that, do you?" He stared down at her, a combination of concern and outrage upon his face. When he saw the tears that had welled up in her eyes, Lee once again found himself furious with Joe King. Not only did this coward of a man leave behind his family but had somehow managed to convince Amanda that it was her fault. He pushed those feelings aside for now, his only concern for the woman in front of him. "You are the most giving person I know. I see how you are with the kids, with your mother…" _And with me_ , he added silently. "You do everything for them, and I'm sure you treated your marriage the same way."

Again, she gave a small shake of her head. "Not everything. He begged me not to file. He said if I would just not be so stubborn, then we could be a family again. He said I was the one who was the problem."

Lee pulled Amanda into a hug, partly to hide his anger at Joe King. He ran his hands up and down her back, serving to comfort her and calm himself at the same time. After a moment, he gently pushed her back to look into her eyes.

"Amanda, the boys were too young to drag them from place to place, never knowing what kind of living conditions you'd be in, let alone if you'd have access to healthcare. You did the right thing. _He_ broke up your family. Not you." _Please believe me, Amanda._ He silently pleaded with her.

"It just wasn't an option to me," she supplied quietly.

" _He_ had an option, Amanda. He could have taken a job stateside and still affected change. You had made it clear how you felt about it, didn't you?" He already knew the answer but needed her to really understand that this was not her fault.

"Yes, he knew how I felt, and that I was not going to change my mind." She nodded slightly as she spoke.

"And had you talked about his option to stay in the States?" Lee gazed at her intently, awaiting her answer.

"We did. In fact, we had fought about it several times." Her eyes searched his, looking for an answer that was just out of her reach.

"So, he knew his wife was not going to allow her small children to be potentially placed in harm's way, yet he beleaguered the point and then called you selfish, when all he had to do was make a slight adjustment to his plans in order to keep his family intact?" He raised an eyebrow as he studied her reaction. He knew he hit his mark when the spark returned to her eyes and a smile slowly spread across her face.

"It really wasn't my fault?" It was more of a question than a statement, needing to get the final piece of validation she never expected.

Lee gave her a dimpled smile before pulling her to him in a tight hug. "No, it wasn't your fault. Not at all." His hand stroked idly up and down her back. "You are an amazing woman, and a fantastic mother, Amanda King." In a voice filled with emotion, yet barely a whisper he added, "Joe was a fool to ever let you go."

She slowly raised her head and found him gazing down at her. Her breath caught at the look of love in his eyes. She couldn't look away nor did she want to. She tipped her head up slightly in invitation as he began to lower his head to her. His right arm tightened around her waist as his left hand slowly slid upwards into her hair as their lips grew ever closer. Just as they were about to meet, the elevator lurched, forcing them apart. They exchanged nervous smiles as the elevator continued its decent, the doors opening a moment later. Lee escorted Amanda out, his hand in its familiar place at the small of her back.

The walk back to Lee's car was a silent one, shy smiles and furtive glances their only communication. When they reached his car, instead of opening the door he grasped both of her hands in his.

Lee glanced at their clasped hands as he spoke. "Amanda, I was wondering…" He caressed the back of her hands in an effort to gather his courage. "Are you doing anything tonight?" He nervously raised his eyes back to her, relief flooding him at seeing her smile.

"No, I'm free. The boys are with Joe tonight and Mother is off with Captain Curt. It's just going to be me and a good book tonight." She gave a slight raise of her eyebrow challenging him to say what was on his mind.

Encouraged, he took a small step towards her. "In that case, I have a very important question for you." He dropped his voice down an octave, the one he usually used on her when he wanted something, the one she found very hard to resist.

She found herself magnetically drawn to him and took a small step forward. The way she felt he could ask her to jump off a bridge and she would have readily complied.

He was drawn to her in much the same way and finished closing the distance between them. He reached up with his left hand and brushed a lock of hair out of her eyes before resting his hand on her shoulder. His heart pounded in his chest and found he needed to take a breath before proceeding. "Amanda…" He offered her a nervous smile. "Will you be my Valentine?"

Her smile was the biggest he had ever seen. "Oh yeah, Lee. I'll be your Valentine." His smile matched hers as they gazed into each other's eyes for a moment. Lee's hand moved from her shoulder to behind her neck and he pulled her close. Once again, he lowered his head to her, his other hand again snaking around her waist. Amanda's hands slid up his lapels before locking behind his neck as their lips met. This time, there would be no interruptions. Afterwards, they stay locked in each other's arms, their foreheads touching. Lee felt his heart would burst from happiness. He looked into the eyes of the woman he knew he loved. He knew that everything had changed for them today, and for the first time he wasn't afraid for what that could mean. They would move forward as they did everything, together.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Amanda."


End file.
